OSIL (Ocean Scientific International Ltd) are experiencing an increase in worldwide sales of their new and improved MiniBAT Tow Vehicle for multiparameter monitoring applications. Most recently they have sold a high-end system consisting of a MiniBAT FC60 and an AML Micro CTD to Ifremer, France, who will be using the system in their research work to monitor the variability of salinity and temperature as well as measuring current. The high speed AML CTD perfectly compliments the undulating nature of the MiniBAT ensuring there is no lag in the data and providing a top class research tool.

Previous to the French sale, OSIL supplied the University of Melbourne, Australia, with a MiniBAT FC60 integrated with the clients own Hydrolab DS5X and a Bowtech Underwater Colour Camera, to assist the university with their environmental study on Black Breams in the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria. The system was created to collect temperature, salinity, conductivity, DO, turbidity, Nitrate, Nitrite and Chl a data, so that estuary dynamics could be collated with actual information on the temperate reef habitat of the Black Bream.

OSIL also provided CSIC, Spain with a MiniBAT for their studies on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Ria de Vigo, Spain. The MiniBAT was integrated with an AML Micro CTD, a Wet Labs Wetstar and an OBS 3, creating a system that could collect large data sets at a much quicker rate than traditional methods. In this study the MiniBAT was used to monitor conductivity, temperature, pressure, fluorescence and turbidity.

OSIL have also recently adapted the FC60 design and created the MiniBAT FW100, a fixed wing version of the FC60 that can travel faster and deeper than the original at a fixed depth. Both the FC60 and FW100 MiniBATs are fully adaptable for a wide variety of applications and provide users with an effective way of collecting profiles in a quick and cost-effective way.